Choices That Matter
**Please note that due to Covid, these services have been temporarily suspended. Please call our office at 374-3257 if you need assistance.
Why write an advance directive? There's a beautiful quote from Dr. Ira Byock, a leader in end-of-life care, "I have an Advance Directive not because I have a serious illness but because I have a family."
If you became incapacitated, would your family know your wishes for care?
Advance care planning can guide them about
your wishes for end-of-life care.
That's the why, but what about the how? Choices That Matter Community Conversation can educate you, help you start the conversation with your family and friends, assist the paperwork, and make sure copies are where they need to be. Launched in 2017, Choices That Matter is one of our most asked-about programs.
You Gotta Watch This!
Dr. Seuss Does Advance Directives: A Tim Boon Poem
We know that talking with family or friends about advance directives and end-of-life care can be a daunting task. Here's how Tim Boon, the director of Good Shepherd Community Care (GSCC) in Newton, MA solved that problem. GSCC is an independent, community-based, not-for-profit, non-sectarian, hospice care agency, the first organized in Massachusetts 40 years ago.
Tools & Resources
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Myths and Facts About Health Care Advance Directives - Commission on the Law & Aging
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Guide For Caregivers of People with Alzheimer’s or Other Forms of Dementia
Helpful Articles
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"Optimizing Healthcare Choices for Difficult Times" - published by the Penobscot Bay Press
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"A Tale of Two Deaths" - published by the Penobscot Bay Press
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"Having the Conversation" - published in the Your Health Matters column by the Penobscot Bay Press
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"A Better Way to Care for the Dying" - published in The Economist
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"What Is Palliative Care?" - by Zoe Tenney, FNP, from Blue Hill Memorial Hospital
Click on the picture below to view a sample Choices That Matter presentation that we offer:
